The Gospel of Excess According to Evangelicals
words by Caitlin Caven
photos by Victor Yiu
 “We’ve got to spice this interview up,” says Josh Jones of Evangelicals, standing up from the stair he was sitting on and dusting off the seat of his jeans. “Maybe I’ll jump in the pool.” Our interview has just taken place in front of the Elk’s Club while a South by Southwest party out back is winding down. Jones starts to walk into the clubhouse and pauses to talk to a petite, tattooed acquaintance. “[Guitarist/keyboardist] Todd [Jackson] was the one wearing the cape,” he clarifies for her, and she nods in recognition: “Oh, right! The one with the cape.” He sidles inside, past the matronly Elk’s Club registrar who has just granted all of us dirty, hung over 20-somethings access to the party. “Have fun, babe!” She calls after us, and Jones grins and waves to her. He walks through a dining room full of middle-aged Elks in burnt orange T-shirts eating plates of barbeque, outside past a stage where some band is playing, to a pool where no one is swimming. He disappears for a few minutes, then reappears over my shoulder. “Did you know that band that just played was Hanson?” he asks. A mischievous smile creeps across his face—it’s a look that suggests that, many years ago, Jones was the kind of kid who burned ants with a magnifying glass. “We must get a picture with them.”
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